Hebrews 13:17-25

13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. ¹  Let them do this ²  with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you. 13:18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to conduct ourselves rightly in every respect. 13:19 I especially ask you to pray ³  that I may be restored to you very soon.

Benediction and Conclusion

13:20 Now may the God of peace who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ, 13:21 equip you with every good thing to do his will, working in us ⁴  what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. ⁵  Amen.

13:22 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, ⁶  bear with my message of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you briefly. 13:23 You should know that ⁷  our brother Timothy has been released. If he comes soon, he will be with me when I see you. ⁸  13:24 Greetings to all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy send you greetings. 13:25 Grace be with you all. ⁹ 

[13:17]  ¹ tn Or “as ones who will give an account”; Grk “as giving an account.”

[13:17]  ² tn Grk “that they may do this.”

[13:19]  ³ tn Grk “I urge you to do this all the more.”

[13:21]  ⁴ tc Some mss (C P Ψ 6 629* 630 1505 pm latt sy^h) read ὑμῖν (Jumin, “in you”) here, but ἡμῖν (Jhmin) has stronger external support (Ì⁴⁶ א A D^vid K 0243 0285 33 81 104 326 365 629^c 1175 1739 1881 pm sy^p co). It is also more likely that ἡμῖν would have been changed to ὑμῖν in light of the “you” which occurs at the beginning of the verse than vice versa.

[13:21]  ⁵ tc ‡ Most mss (א A [C*] 0243 0285 33 1739 1881 Ï latt) include the words “and ever” here, but the shorter reading (supported by Ì⁴⁶ C³ D Ψ 6 104 365 1505 al) is preferred on internal grounds. It seemed more likely that scribes would assimilate the wording to the common NT doxological expression “for ever and ever,” found especially in the Apocalypse (cf., e.g., 1 Tim 1:17; 2 Tim 4:18; Rev 4:9; 22:5) than to the “forever” of Heb 13:8. Nevertheless, a decision is difficult here. NA²⁷ places the phrase in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[13:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[13:23]  ⁷ tn Grk “Know that” (an imperative).

[13:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you.”

[13:25]  ⁹ tc Most witnesses, including several important ones (א² A C D H Ψ 0243 1739 1881 Ï lat sy bo), conclude the letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, there is sufficient testimony (Ì⁴⁶ א* I^vid 6 33 sa) for the lack of the particle, rendering its omission the preferred reading.